Muslim extremism: “Antwerp, Belgium, where the future of the West will be decided”

In a successful effort to escape the record-breaking Antwerp April heatwave (not a single drop of rain in 30 days along with 30°C/90°F temps, beating Mediterranean holiday destinations), I’m currently typing this post in a cooler place.

But I couldn’t help but notice that the US Washington Times (a marginal neo-con publication not related to the respected Washington Post) persistently allows Belgian extreme right-winger Paul Belien (a ‘copywriter’ for the extreme right wing Vlaams Belang Party) to publish fear mongering, anecdotal or incidental stories about Antwerp. In one of his latest, dear Paul proves that peddling fear is popular in right-wing Washington: “The Islamicization of Antwerp exclaims the editorial, and, hold your breath, it goes on to explain why “It is not in Baghdad but in cities like Antwerp, Belgium, where the future of the West will be decided”. Antwerp sure must be a horrifying war zone, where Islamic extremists roam the streets, terrorizing the local population.

Upon examination, the Washington Times is actually only publishing the (yawn) boring story of a disgruntled former Antwerp civil servant who lost her job. Paul Belien uses familiar ploys to make his point (”the Socialists, who run the city, allow the Islamists to do as they please”) while contradicting himself on numerous occasions (”also went to see Christian Democrat and Liberal politicians. They also refused to help her because they are governing the city in a coalition with the Socialists” - hey, he just claimed “”the Socialists, who run the city”, oh well, just let him be).

Facts: Belgium has a total population of 10 million. Only 400.000 are Muslims, predominantly living in the Brussels area. A grand total of approx 4,000 to 8,000 adhere (1 tot 2%) to radical/extremist and/or criminal groups (common street crimes are prevalent in well defined neighborhoods) and yes, they are being monitored by Belgian homeland security according to a report published on April 27. Really sounds like Baghdad, doesn’t it? (…)

To put these figures into perspective: 20% of the total indigenous Antwerp downtown population is living below the poverty line, with a city council turning large parts of the historic downtown into a playground for the rich, and obviously, the never ending stream of tourists.

Antwerp may well be the place “where the future of the West will be decided”, but it won’t be a future based on religious fanaticism. I can only hold my breath while I’m watching the emergence of a polarized society with lots of poor/impoverished natives, surrounded by the penthouses of the imported rich. Sounds familiar?

Are you a terrorist? “Fascist America, in 10 easy steps”

While browsing several US blogs, I stumbled upon a recent British Guardian article, “Fascist America, in 10 easy steps” , written by Naomi Wolf. Wolf provides the ten steps a corrupt government takes to create a fascist state, and provides examples of what the Bush administration is doing to potentially fulfill the requirements of each step:

1 Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2 Create a gulag
3 Develop a thug caste
4 Set up an internal surveillance system
5 Harass citizens’ groups
6 Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7 Target key individuals
8 Control the press
9 Dissent equals treason
10 Suspend the rule of law

Shocking, raw, hard-hitting must-read material. An article from Naomi Wolf’s upcoming book “The End of America: A Letter of Warning”, to be published in September.

The process of erosion in the USA has already progressed way beyond our imagination: (quote from the article):

–
“Professor Walter F Murphy is emeritus of Princeton University; he is one of the foremost constitutional scholars in the nation and author of the classic Constitutional Democracy. Murphy is also a decorated former marine, and he is not even especially politically liberal. But on March 1 this year, he was denied a boarding pass at Newark, “because I was on the Terrorist Watch list”.

“Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that,” asked the airline employee.

“I explained,” said Murphy, “that I had not so marched but had, in September 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the constitution.”

“That’ll do it,” the man said.
Anti-war marcher? Potential terrorist. Support the constitution? Potential terrorist.”
–

How a great nation lost its freedom while ignorantly watching American Idol on tv.
If you happen to be American (some of my closest friends are), do you have any clue how much damage this administration inflicted upon the USA and how the world perceives these shocking acts?

Elaborate US comments (130 at present) are available at www.commondreams.org

“GodTube”: God has gone commercial and wants your cash

“Sell Him”, claim the critics. Chris Wyatt, the owner, probably
expects huge YouTube-like revenues: just read his sales-pitch
According to the Bible, greed is a sin. Are we being led astray?

“The Trouble with Islam Today”: Lesbian Faith without Fear

I’m sure most of you must have seen, heard or are at least aware of the fact that Canadian lesbian Muslima Irshad Manji wrote “The Trouble with Islam Today“, a stunning bestseller (banned in virtually the entire Middle East) making abundantly clear that there is actually a need for a “liberal Islam“, based entirely on the Koran, while weeding out the repressive or pervasive cultural issues that appear to have no foundation in the scripture.

Her entire work is available as a free download online (text in Arabic, Urdu or Persian), especially for those of you living in less liberal countries.

If you happen to live in the US: PBS aired “Faith without fear” last week.

Quote from Irshad Manji:
—
“The Trouble with Islam Today is an open letter from me, a Muslim voice of reform, to concerned citizens worldwide, Muslim and not. It’s about why my faith community needs to come to terms with the diversity of ideas, beliefs and people in our universe, and why non-Muslims have a pivotal role in helping us get there.

The themes I’m exploring with the utmost honesty include: the inferior treatment of women in Islam; the Jew-bashing that so many Muslims persistently engage in; and the continuing scourge of slavery in countries ruled by Islamic regimes.

I appreciate that every faith has its share of literalists. Christians have their fundamentalists. Jews have the ultra-Orthodox. For God’s sake, even Buddhists have absolutists.

But what this book hammers home is that only in Islam is literalism mainstream. Which means that when abuse happens under the banner of Islam, most Muslims have no clue how to dissent, debate, revise or reform.
The Trouble with Islam Today shatters our silence. It shows Muslims how we can re-discover Islam’s lost tradition of independent thinking — a tradition known as “ijtihad” — and re-discover it precisely to update Islam for the 21st century.”
—

As a secular former Catholic myself, (the weddings and funerals only variety) I’m still waiting for a copy of “The trouble with Christianity today”, because let’s face it: almost each and every major religion continues to incite ongoing oppression and suffering worldwide, especially if one just happens to belong to a minority

An early summer break

Due to the unexpected ongoing heatwave currently hitting Antwerp (riverside 30C°/90°F in April), I’m unsure how the next days will look like.

I may be tempted to leave you all behind and enjoy the amazing weather for a couple of days, who knows.

May 1st is a (paid) public holiday in this country, turning the “let’s stay at home” concept into an even less attractive proposition.

While I make every effort not to sound like the weather channel, it must be clear that Belgium is going through some freaky (but most pleasant) weather conditions.

Antwerp saw one day of snow, with record breaking highs  throughout the winter.

My shot left: enjoying the sun last March along the historic quays in Antwerp (vessel: unknown rusty container liner from Vladivostok, Russia)

Where ever you may be, enjoy your local weather (I know, I shouldn’t be saying that )

Stop caring online

While recently browsing yet another “caring part” of the 20-something blogosphere, I briefly paused, realizing that I had finally reached that final point of no return, that moment when I couldn’t possibly stomach the (predominantly well-off, middle class) bored ‘finger-pointers” anymore: within easy reach of their high-speed Internet WiFi connection the authors bitched and preached the Web 2.0 gospel: “the world sucks” (for many on the planet, it actually does), “save/change,” well, whatever they felt was worth saving/changing on their sponsored, internet-only social networking mega sites.

To put it plain and simple, I basically got fed up with salon bloggers who insist on pretending to care 24/24 for the whole planet, the words-only variety. Obviously, covering an major issue online can actually save lives, but in general words are visibly not enough, so I can only wholeheartedly advice on traveling another road: the one that involves active participation. When I was young (no pun intended) social involvement meant getting off your butt, becoming involved in some face-to-face social network with some serious brainstorming and real life action plans. Trust me, I’ve been there.

I can only hold my breath listening to the current ‘MySpace’ generation, some of whom actually believe they can “change the world from their lazy chair”, maybe a most efficient way to share injustice with the planet (we all realize what a simple cell-phone camera shot can provoke) but still, with only a handful major online publications able to briefly shake the foundations of the system, most of the +100 million blog posts are drops in the ocean, insignificant whispers blowing away in the wind.

So go ahead, “cure aids” and give “changing the world online” another shot on your colourful “Myspace”. But if empty words are all you can offer, please cut the overly ‘caring’ bit, it only tends to turn my stomach.

At some point in time, most bloggers find out their true destiny: (Quote from V-girrrl, an American expat living South of Brussels):

“I’m tired of writing serious posts about the sad state of the world and crazy people and guns and politicians and mental health funding and social problems and all that. I’m not cut out for carrying the world on my shoulders. People, I have a bad back!“

[Obviously, if you're caring 24/24 for a loved one, are involved with a humanitarian cause or generally succeed in making this world a better place, I admire your work and courage. Are your online pursuits making an impact? Do let me know, I'll link you in my blogroll]

City heat

30°C/90°F, blazing sun, no air conditioning and a pile of work - there must be someone to blame, it’s April..

Let’s overdose on pure fun - The marathon that turned into a party

Running or working as crowd entertainment in an overheated Antwerp, April 22, 2007

Better than having sex: running a marathon

Can this lady please give me a call? I want that feeling too, but I’m unable to reproduce
it while running [my image: Antwerp Marathon, historic downtown, April 22, 2007]

A steamy night in Antwerp

Just in case you were wondering how I spend my nights in Antwerp (well, not all of them): this Antwerp riverside Salsa bar is gay/mixed, Brazilian and the parties are always rather outrageous. I’m recovering from a headache - no harm done.

The Antwerp 2007 Marathon

Tomorrow, Sunday April 22, an expected 10,000 runners will pass through Antwerp during the yearly ING 10 miles and the full Antwerp Marathon. [Antwerp marathon website] I walked home today, watching these preparations towards the final countdown:

Spring in Antwerp

Spring hit Antwerp with a four day 30°C/90°F heatwave, leaving a trail of destruction as local vegetation has not seen a drop of rain for over a month.

With temperatures going haywire, garden trees dropped their flowers within a couple of days, being unable to cope with the fast changing 2°C/30°C/10°C weather.

Even my living room reassembles a “vegetation war zone” as most of my plants couldn’t cope with the rollercoaster weather.

Anyway, after an ongoing stream of most distressing personal incidents with  my former diving instructor, I’m currently trying to find a alternative to scuba diving, filling a rather disturbing gap after almost a decade of mixing with my former diving buddies. I will try to keep in touch, but it will be above the surface.

When a close, longtime friend betrays your trust, it’s time to bail out. Trust me, most of you have been there too

Turkish banned by Ford Belgium supplier

Belgian newspapers “De Morgen“, “Nieuwsblad” and “Het Volk” report that HP Pelzer Belgium, a major parts supplier for Ford’s car assembly plant at Genk, Belgium, is actively banning the use of any language other than Dutch by its personnel, even during lunch-breaks.

The predominantly Turkish workforce reacted with outrage when their employer announced that breaking this rule three times would be sufficient to be dismissed on the spot. So much for “multi-cultural Belgium” [Image: courtesy De Persgroep]

European sales tax increase on prostitution angers “customers”

Belgian daily “De Morgen“and Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf” report that the Dutch tax on prostitution booths has risen ‘dramatically’ from 6 to 19% in Holland, as prostitution window owners where labeled by a European Court as “service providers” (19% sales tax) instead of “landlords” renting out their property. Prostitution is legal and ’sanitized’ in Holland and Belgium.

Both hookers and customers reacted with anger, as hefty price increases are expected [image: unrelated]

Virginia Tech shooting - Live Video: “you reap what you sow”

A local Belgian TV anchor just labelled today’s US Virginia Tech shooting “yet another shooting incident waiting to happen”.
Watch live cell-phone video of the killing spree.
Shocking quote from an “hurray” press release by the NRA in July 2004:
–
“Virginia Right-to-Carry permit holders are no longer subject to the state’s one-gun-a-month restriction, thanks to a law effective July 1. Fifteen additional pro-gun laws go on the books helping to improve the Second Amendment rights of Virginians. All new statutes — supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA) — were passed by the Virginia General Assembly and signed by Governor Mark Warner.

“This has been a landmark year for the Second Amendment in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. “Today Virginia’s law-abiding gun owners have more rights after strong support from the Virginia General Assembly, Governor Warner and citizens across the state.”

One positive change to Virginia statute excludes holders of valid Right-to-Carry permits from the limitation of buying only one handgun a month. The law, originally sponsored by Delegate Bill Janis (HB 404), also exempts purchases made by collectors for the purposes of improving their collection.

Other measures, sponsored respectively by Delegate Bob McDonnell and Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (HB 1144 and HB 1302), make needed improvements to the laws governing firearm purchases by removing unnecessary restrictions on residents of the Commonwealth. Four additional statutes strengthen preemption laws and eliminate onerous local firearm ordinances. And, Virginia broadly expanded the number of states whose Right-to-Carry permits it will recognize.

“Not only did 16 pro-gun bills become law, but numerous anti-gun proposals were soundly defeated this legislative session,” added Cox. “NRA commends Virginia for taking a giant step forward in protecting our Second Amendment freedom.”
—

Reading the quote above, most Belgians/ Europeans cannot feel any empathy for this “incident”. If the US constitution allows almost its entire population to carry guns they bought at Walmart, an never ending stream of people will get shot. That’s what handguns are made for, aren’t they? I doubt whether the relatives of the 32 corpses in VA are “enjoying the benefits of the Second Amendment freedom”.

A final insult came from the White House: “”The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.” Probably the dumbest statement one could make about 200 million firearms.

Quote from an American expat in Brussels, Belgium:”But who’s doing the killing in America? Who’s slaughtering innocents? Who’s committing domestic “acts of terrorism”? None other than our own citizens.

The Bush statement (”President Bush on Monday said he was “horrified” by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech”) was yet another meaningless soundbite. “Horrified?” Dream on.

[related: "exploration of violence and gun culture in America"- The Nation.
Related: "criticism of U.S. gun control laws around the world" - AOL News]

[Image credits: all major US newsfeeds]

A hot day in paradise

No, it’s not a summer shot from an exotic location, you’re looking at a wall decorated with a large number of wine bottles. Antwerp, Belgium, April 15: 30°C/90°F [image right: historic Antwerp city quay sunbathing, courtesy DS]

An inconvenient truth: Antwerp hit by 4d heatwave in April

Antwerp, Belgium, April 14, 2007

riverside: 27°C/80°F
downtown: 32°C/90°F

Hottest April days ever recorded in Belgium -
April tends to be wet and chilly.

The city was absolutely packed with tourists who enjoyed a mid-summer like atmosphere, realizing we “beat” the weather in popular holiday destinations like Spain and Turkey.

Disturbing, from a climatological viewpoint.

“Pigs Make You Gay” claims Muslim Ahmadiyya sect

The controversial ‘Muslim’ Ahmadiyya religious sect managed to get its fair share of media attention yesterday by claiming that “pork meat turns you into a homosexual” (..) or to be more precise: “the Ahmadiyya yesterday announced publicly in Germany that they relate the growing number of homosexuals to the consumption of pork meat”.

Although Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto has long labeled the Ahmadiyyas as “non-Muslims”, it must be clear that anti-gay sentiments among regular migrant Muslims in Belgium (many of them Berbers from Morocco) have always existed and are growing, a most disturbing trend as Holland recently has had its share of violent anti-gay hate-crimes instigated by radicalized Muslim/Islamic youths. I notice in Antwerp that intelligent, tolerant citizens are getting fed up with a small minority of extremist Muslims who abuse our democracy to preach hate and intolerance.

It took Belgium many years to be liberated from its conservative, anti-gay Catholic fundamentalists.

Nobody is waiting for a new wave of conservative, radicalized migrant Muslims who feel that they can disregard and insult the legally acquired rights and lifestyle of the Belgian gay community, or even the Belgian society at large. UPDATE: the Muslim sect PR representative posted a comment

Friday the 13th: a perfect day to have some real fun?

To prevent any incidents associated with Friday the 13th, would it be safe to post original content today?

Quote:

“It’s been estimated that [U.S] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do”. “Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they are simply unable to get out of bed when Friday the 13th rolls around. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that more than 17 million people are affected by a fear of this day. “

With a record breaking, summer-like 25°C/80°F, guess I’m going to take the Harley for a Spring test drive today

[update: an unexpected general strike at Brussels Airport caused chaos taday..]

Assisting the mentally challenged: “Weblogs need content warnings’

When web pioneer Tim O’Reilly [image] suggested that “surfers should be warned when they are reading blogs that may contain “crude language”, I couldn’t agree more.

It’s about time that all our mentally challenged citizens are advised by big, flashing visual signs, reading “WARNING, you are reading a piece of free speech, not yet endorsed by your local intelligence agency”. Yes, my fellow bloggers, it’s about time we clean out this cesspit called “blogging”, putting colorful age, content and security advisories on each post.

Like the self-proclaimed blogging guru intended, but did not say: “it’s time that our content is being labeled so that even the dumbest, most asinine and easily offended browsers can easily recognize the possibility that some blogs “may contain crude language, or (God Forbid!) “Free Speech”.

OK, now that we cleared that up, time for another piece on Britney’s latest vagina sex shocker. [related article: BBC report]

The cutest car in the world

[Fiat 600, Zeeland, Holland, Easter 2007, 'childhood memories' / Riley roadster, still a beauty after all those years]

“Grocery Shopping in Hell”

While browsing some expat blogs, I stumbled upon “Grocery Shopping in Hell”, a most amusing item written by a Canadian couple who moved to Brussels. Let me post a quote:

” Belgians, who are lovely and friendly people in most instances, are insanely aggressive in two places: The roads (witness the disproportionate number of dented-in cars) and the grocery store.”
“The place is a war zone. Hyper-aggressive shoppers, fuelled by their desire to get home for the weekend, barge forth, paying even less heed than usual to the implicit rules of the grocery store. People are jostled, shoved and manhandled. Tomatoes splatter on the ground, beer bottles smash against the floor, there is fist-fight in the meat section, a pineapple is lobbed in produce and there’s an attempted murder by the toilet paper. The place is like Baghdad, but instead of armoured vehicles and machine guns, it’s shopping carts and antsy Eurocrats; and, like the elusive weapons of mass destruction, a fast-moving checkout line is rare indeed.”

While I regrettably have to confirm our occasionally ‘problematic’ driving habits (and associated road casualty figures) I wonder whether this Canadian couple shops in a peculiar part of Brussels that induces such behavior. While some Belgian supermarkets might have their “issues”, I wonder if any of you expats and incidental visitors ever experienced “Baghdad like supermarkets” in Belgium. I’m still trying to locate one

A Dutch marina, a Riley and lots of disgusting food

Easter 2007 came as a perfect package: blue skies, three days of “dolce far niente” in and around the marina’s in Southern Holland while enjoying the company of some most amusing divers: I had a ball. [my image left: Oosterschelde marina, Holland, Easter 2007]

Although many boats were not yet ready for the new season, the local marina near Goes was the starting point for an old-timer race featuring some truly amazing cars. I just loved watching several Rileys passing by. Diving, bright sunshine, vintage cars, what on earth could mess up the weekend? The food, as usual.

While some of my friends came with their Motor Homes (an “R.V.”) along with their own BBQ sets, I decided to take the plunge and make one last attempt at sampling some local Dutch cuisine, as there had to be at least one regular outlet serving quality ‘Dutch food’.

I was wrong, again.

Take a look at the food on this 20 EUR ($27) plate: does it look like someone dumped frozen French-fries into low-quality fat, covered the result with a vomit-like sauce and called the resulting dish a “Vol-au-vent” (”puff paste shell filled with a savory meat mixture”)?

That’s about exactly what happened, right near an upscale marina in Southern Holland filled with countless million Euro/$ vessels. [image right: the food on my table along the marina, Holland, Easter 2007]

The Dutch and their ‘daily quality food’: it’s an ongoing disaster

Justin.tv: The ultimate reality show?

Just in case you missed it during the passed 18 days: www.justin.tv has been following the life of Justin Kan, a 23 yo from San Francisco. 24/24, 7/7, except when he’s sleeping. The camera is mounted on his head.

Some blogs call this project “the ultimate reality show” but I feel it looks like an extended version of all reality shows we’re used to on tv - except for the “not edited” quality. Anyway, after yet another hour watching Justin walking the streets, I closed the feed, tired of a tidal wave of trivial video images. It bored me senseless. Any fans around?

Gay men, women in Irak: torture, executions, systematic eradication

In addition to the ongoing civil/religious Sunni and Shiite war started after the US forces invaded Irak, http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/ reports that gay men/women are specifically targeted by death squads: (quote):

““Iraqi lesbians and gays continue to be subjected a systematic reign
of terror by Shia death squads. The government of Iraq refuses to crack down on the killers or to take any action to protect its gay citizens. It is a regime that is dominated by Shia fanatics and homophobes,” according to Ali Hili, the coordinator of the human
rights group Iraqi LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

Mr Hili lists below a few examples of the many death squad killings of gay Iraqis.

“Supporters of the fundamentalist Sadr and Badr militias boast that they are cleansing Iraq of what they call ‘sexual perverts’. They are open about terrorising gay Iraqis to make them flee the country andmurdering those who fail to leave. Their goal is a queer-free, pro-homophobic Iraq. They are dragging our country back to the dark ages,” said the London-based Mr Hili, who is also Middle East spokesperson for the gay human rights group, OutRage!

“Some members of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government are linked to the anti-gay death squads. They are the political representatives of the Muqtada al-Sadr movement and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Both these parties have militias, respectively the Mahdi army and the Badr brigades, who are responsible for the execution-style killing of lesbian and gay Iraqis – and the murder of many other Iraqis, including Sunni Muslims, trade unionists, unveiled women, journalists and men wearing shorts, jeans or western-style haircuts.

“The murder of gay Iraqis has the support of highly influential religious leaders, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. He issued a fatwa in late 2005, calling for the execution of gay people in the ‘most severe way possible’. After international protests, he removed the fatwa from his website, but the fatwa itself has not been rescinded. It remains in force and is the spiritual sanction for the death squads to murder gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,” said Mr Hili.

The United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) has corroborated Iraqi LGBT’s claims of “sexual cleansing” by the death squads and Islamist courts:

“Armed Islamic groups and militias have been known to be particularly hostile towards homosexuals, frequently and openly engaging in violent campaigns against them,” January’s UNAMI report said.

“There have been a number of assassinations of homosexuals in Iraq…At least five homosexual males were reported to have been kidnapped from Shaab area in the first week of November (2006) by one of the main militias. The mutilated body of Amjad, one of the kidnapped, appeared in the same area after a few days. [We were] also alerted to the existence of religious courts, supervised by clerics, where homosexuals allegedly would be ‘tried,’ ’sentenced’ to death and then executed,” UNAMI
said.

This UNAMI report provoked a hostile reaction from the government of Iraq, which suggested that gay people are unIraqi and unIslamic:

“There was information in the report that we cannot accept here in Iraq. The report, for example, spoke about the phenomenon of homosexuality and giving them their rights,” said Mr al-Dabbagh, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government. “Such statements are not suitable to the Iraqi society. This is rejected. They (the UN) should respect the values and traditions here in Iraq.”

The US troops in Irak have done nothing to prevent the torture, executions and systematic eradication of gay Iraqi’s, as expected. Latest UN human rights report on Irak.

These kinds of reports keep on disturbing me, especially when I witness blatant anti-gay aggressive behaviour by 2nd generation Muslim-youths in downtown Antwerp. Which brings me to the fundamental problem: “homosexuality” is not acceptable to the average Muslim inhabitant/minority in Antwerp. However, Antwerp is a Belgian town, where a large gay population enjoys a multitude of legal rights (gay marriage, adoption, equal rights, protection from bigotry).

How should we approach a Muslim minority in Belgium that has no respect for these gay rights?